Cross-reactive antibody response between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV infections

Lv, H.; Wu, N. C.; Tsang, O. T.-Y.; Yuan, M.; Perera, R. A. P. M.; Leung, W. S.; So, R. T. Y.; Chan, J. M. C.; Yip, G. K.; Chik, T. S. H.; Wang, Y.; Choi, C. Y. C.; Lin, Y.; Ng, W. W.; Zhao, J.; Poon, L. L. M.; Peiris, J. S. M.; Wilson, I. A.; Mok, C. K. P.

doi:10.1101/2020.03.15.993097

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2020.03.15.993097

Cross-reactive antibody response between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV infections

Lv, H.·Wu, N. C.·Tsang, O. T.-Y.·Yuan, M.·Perera, R. A. P. M.·Leung, W. S.·So, R. T. Y.·Chan, J. M. C.·Yip, G. K.·Chik, T. S. H.·Wang, Y.·Choi, C. Y. C.·Lin, Y.·Ng, W. W.·Zhao, J.·Poon, L. L. M.·Peiris, J. S. M.·Wilson, I. A.·Mok, C. K. P.

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Abstract

The World Health Organization has recently declared the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19, which is caused by a novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, as pandemic. There is currently a lack of knowledge in the antibody response elicited from SARS-CoV-2 infection. One major immunological question is concerning the antigenic differences between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV. We address this question by using plasma from patients infected by SARS-CoV-2 or SARS-CoV, and plasma obtained from infected or immunized mice. Our results show that while cross-reactivity in antibody binding to the spike protein is common, cross-neutralization of the live viruses is rare, indicating the presence of non-neutralizing antibody response to conserved epitopes in the spike. Whether these non-neutralizing antibody responses will lead to antibody-dependent disease enhancement needs to be addressed in the future. Overall, this study not only addresses a fundamental question regarding the antigenicity differences between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV, but also has important implications in vaccine development.

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Lv, H., Wu, N. C., Tsang, O. T.-Y., Yuan, M., Perera, R. A. P. M., Leung, W. S., So, R. T. Y., Chan, J. M. C., Yip, G. K., Chik, T. S. H., Wang, Y., Choi, C. Y. C., Lin, Y., Ng, W. W., Zhao, J., Poon, L. L. M., Peiris, J. S. M., Wilson, I. A., Mok, C. K. P.. 2020-03-17. Cross-reactive antibody response between SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV infections. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.15.993097

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